About the Book
This controversial true story about how a woman saved her marriage has already caused a media storm, forcing the New York Times to shut down their comments site. Every woman will HAVE to read this to have an opinion about it. ' "I DON't LOVE YOU ANY MORE. I'M NOt SURE I EVER DID." His words came at me like a speeding fist, like a sucker punch, yet somehow in that moment I was able to duck. And once I recovered and composed myself, I managed to say, "I don't buy it." Because I didn't. He drew back in surprise. Apparently he'd expected me to burst into tears, to rage at him, to threaten him with a custody battle. Or beg him to change his mind ... I really wanted to fight. to rage. to cry. But I didn't. Instead, a shroud of calm enveloped me ... You see, I'd recently committed to a non-negotiable understanding with myself. I'd committed to "the End of Suffering". I'd decided to take responsibility for my own happiness. And I mean all of it.' When Laura Munson's essay about how she dealt with this heartbreaking pronouncement from her husband of 20 years appeared in the New York times it created a firestorm. the No.1 read, emailed and searched story of the day forced the times to shut down their comments site. Readers sent it to their friends, therapists gave it to patients, ministers read it to congregations, women everywhere argued about it. Her website went from 4 readers to 4000 in a day, then 1500 a day a week later. this is the memoir that spawned the column. Raw, searingly honest, poignant, funny and often enraging, this powerful and timely story is the one book every woman should read this year.
About the Author :
Laura Munson is a writer who lives with her husband and children in Montana.
Review :
"Laura Munson takes the spiritual stuff and the personal stuff and the love stuff and the pain stuff and she brews them all together in a very fun and touching memoir. I'm a fan. This is a wonderful book." --- Marianne Williamson"THIS IS NOT THE STORY YOU THINK IT IS is true to its title. The book took me by surprise. I read it in one sitting and loved Munson's tone, wit, wisdom and writing." -Anita Shreve "Let me tell you what this book is about. This is a book about saying yes. It’s the story of Laura Munson’s alchemical ability to create abundance and bounty in the face of scarcity and abandonment-no small triumph. Munson’s account of the summer her marriage nearly fell apart is filled with gems big and small, from her Italian grandmother’s cooking advice (don’t stir backwards . . . you don’t want to undo the sauce) to her commitment not to suffer. Munson is a wonderful guide-wise, brave, and tenaciously honest." --Melanie Gideon, author of The Slippery Year: A Meditation on Happily Ever After“This book is fabulous. Laura Munson’s noble quest to become the source of her own happiness will take you by the hand and heart as it guides you through the steps to living a life without suffering. Her story pulls back the curtain on the only magic we ever need to know: how to make the shift from fear to love." -Arielle Ford, author of The Soulmate Secret"Laura Munson's powerful and buoyant book gives us wisdom in generous slices. But it is Munson's abilities as a storyteller that show us how to discover-how to find and feel-the real wisdom that may arise from our lives, as messy and heart-breaking as they may be. Woman, wife, mother, neighbor-this fine writer converts her own life's journeys into a series of vignettes so focused and compelling, so heart-breaking, sometimes sofunny, that they resound with the force of parables.”-David Baker, poetry editor of "The Kenyon Review""Laura Munson's memoir is a passionate, funny, and painfully honest account of how, in the midst of emotional crisis, one always has a choice between peace and suffering. Soulfully written and full of humor--this is a wise, wonderful book!" -Kirk Farber, author of Postcards From A Dead Girl “It’s rare to read a story that is so deeply personal, so fraught with heartache, so nakedly honest, and at the same time infused with such astute wisdom. In a world that is increasingly disposable, plastic, where our self-worth is so often determined by external factors, Laura Munson has served up a whopping portion of sanity. This book has the potential to start a cultural revolution.” -Leif Peterson, author of Catherine Wheels and Normal Like Us“I loved this book. It’s unusual, memorable and wry, laugh-out-loud funny too. If you want to stay loved by the one you love, read - no, MEMORIZE - this book.”-Leslie Morgan Steiner, author of Crazy Love and Mommy Wars“With amiability, wit, and a modicum of self-pity, Laura Munson’s memoir reminded me of the twenty-one jars of organic tomato sauce she and her children hand-made. A chapter is like a jar lid: if it doesn’t pop as the contents cool, the seal is faulty and the sauce is worthless. Exhausted from their all-day effort, mother and kids sipped hot chocolates and listened as twenty-one jars cooled. To their satisfaction, they counted twenty-one distinct pops. In reading this brave memoir I counted about the same.” -David James Duncan, author of The Brothers K and God Laughs & PlaysPlease let me know if you want the whole ms and some IN-HOUSE REVIEWS:“The thing about this book for is that I CAN’T LET IT GO. I just can’t. It’s something about the combination of the raw honesty of the way the author writes about her relationship breakdown, and the light-bulb moment that I had when she offers her solution - that no-one controls her happiness except her. … I can’t help feeling her journey resonates for all women, no matter what kind of relationships you have or have had. And I can’t stop telling people - women - about this book. It’s not EAT PRAY LOVE - but I think it has the potential to affect (or to anger) women in the same manner that created that word-of-mouth success. Where it is similar is that invites us into the head of a woman, a woman we find we have much more in common with than we could ever have thought.” Annabel Blay****“THIS IS NOT THE STORY YOU THINK IT IS resonated with me for days after I finished reading it. Laura Munson presents age old wisdom in a totally 21st century way and with breathtaking honesty. She comes across as quite smug sometimes but so does Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love. My friend is a counseller and hypnotherapist and had heard about Laura, researched her online and is already recommending her blog etc to her clients in Sydney - the network for this sort of book travels at lightning speed. This friend told me about The Secret before it was published in the US or shown on TV here. The core message of Laura’s book is something she sees as the number one need in her clients (mainly female) today.’ Jane Finemore“This book was a riveting read from beginning to end. The author took us inside her marriage at the point where it was crumbling fast and she was in a state of despair. There seemed to be no doubt what the result would be - disaster, a family destroyed. However, the author took a different tack to that that the wounded party usually does. I was completely in awe of the way she refused to go down the path of self justification, bitterness and destructive behaviours. It was hard, she had to be incredibly strong. And there was no certainty that what she was doing would work out in the end. I was drawn into the book completely. I think it will resonate one way or another with all women, whether they agree with the author’s actions, like her as a person or not. It’s the sort of book that would be wonderful for book club - everyone would have a point of view. Pauline O’Carolan ****“I read this over the weekend and Australia Day - in fact I couldn’t stop reading it. It has such beautiful flow and I found it so engaging and honest. She portrays her husband’s behaviour both as appalling, which it was, but somehow she manages not to trash him in the process. He is a fully drawn character and there is a fine balance to Munson’s depiction of him. This shows a lot of love and respect and clarity, and it’s those qualities that ultimately make this book remarkable. If you’re wondering whether people my age would connect with this book, I’d say yes. While my friends may only be in the very first years of their marriages, my generation is pretty impatient, so there’s a good chance situations like this will arise in our relationships sooner rather than later - potentially at 5 years rather than 15. For that reason I think this book would resonate as much with women in their late twenties and early thirties as it would with women with a few more years under their belts.” Jessica Dettman**** And here’s the overseas praise for This is Not the Story you Think it Is:
